22 MONTANA EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 384 



blotches on the wing covers. These specimens proved to be stages 

 of the strawberry rootworm (Paria canella (Fabr.) ) previously 

 unreported from Montana. A search in three additional strawberry 

 patches in this area revealed this pest in two of the three plant- 

 ings. 



According to Essig 1 these insects overwinter as adults in the 

 soil, coming out in April and May to feed and deposit eggs on or 

 near the strawberry plants. Larvae hatch from these eggs in 

 seven to fifteen days and feed on the strawberry roots. While 

 Essig notes two generations per year in California, adult emergence 

 dates in the latitude of Billings would suggest a single generation. 



When adults are feeding in the spring and autumn, spraying 

 with four pounds lead arsenate to 100 gallons of water gives good 

 control, although this remedy cannot be applied close to picking 

 time. At such periods the plants may be dusted with a mixture of 

 sulfur and ground derris root, containing one per cent rotenone 

 when applied to the plants. 



Red Turnip Beetle. — The red turnip beetle (Entomoscelis ad- 

 onidis (Pallas) ) is a moderately large beetle, about one-third of an 

 inch in length. In shape it somewhat resembles the Colorado po- 

 tato beetle, but it is predominantly red with dark areas on the 

 head and pronotum, and three dark stripes on the wing covers. It 

 feeds at night on cabbages, radishes, turnips, and other related 

 plants. Its range extends from Europe through Siberia into the 

 northern part of North America. Although it has been found in 

 the Bridger Mountains, Glacier Park, and at Lombard, it was not 

 reported as injurious until the summer of 1940, when it damaged 

 gardens in and around White Sulphur Springs. It should be con- 

 trolled easily by the use of usual stomach poisons such as lead ar- 

 senate. 



Soft-winged Flower Beetle. — This little beetle (Malachius 

 aeneus (L.) ) was first found in Montana at Bozeman in the spring 

 of 1938 and in 1940 it was not uncommon; a specimen was taken 

 in Madison County near Pony, in the summer of 1940. It is about 

 one-fifth of an inch long, most of the head and prothorax, a V- 

 shaped area including about two-thirds of the elytral suture, the 

 under parts, and the appendages are an irridescent greenish black. 

 The face, the prothorax laterally, and the most of the elytra are 

 deep red. The species was identified by Mr. H. S. Barber of the 

 Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine who submitted the 

 following statement: 



"Such a large, conspicuous and abundant exotic species, spread- 

 ing across our wheat areas, should have received some attention, 

 but except for records of capture in a few places, there seems to 

 be very little information which I can find. It is abundant in 



^Essig, E. O., Insects of Western North America, 1926, pp. 468-469. 



